U.S. patent number 8,024,492 [Application Number 12/342,182] was granted by the patent office on 2011-09-20 for system for managing a power monitoring system containing a multiplicity of intelligent electronic devices.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Schneider Electric USA, Inc.. Invention is credited to Peter C. Cowan, Jeffrey W. Johnson, Jayme McQuillan, Loretta Stokes, Rafee Syed, Theresa Wall, Coni Wimsatt.
United States Patent |
8,024,492 |
Syed , et al. |
September 20, 2011 |
System for managing a power monitoring system containing a
multiplicity of intelligent electronic devices
Abstract
A method of managing a power monitoring and control
informational system that encompasses multiple intelligent
electronic devices (IEDs) of varying types comprises creating
different device types, including tags associated with each of the
device types; creating at least one profile for each of the device
types; and generating a user interface display that enables a user
to create a new profile, the display including options to create a
new profile or to create a profile by modifying a copy of data
representing an existing profile.
Inventors: |
Syed; Rafee (Brentwood, TN),
Wall; Theresa (Murfreesboro, TN), Wimsatt; Coni (Smyrna,
TN), Stokes; Loretta (Murfreesboro, TN), McQuillan;
Jayme (Murfreesboro, TN), Cowan; Peter C. (Victoria,
CA), Johnson; Jeffrey W. (Victoria, CA) |
Assignee: |
Schneider Electric USA, Inc.
(Palatine, IL)
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Family
ID: |
42267728 |
Appl.
No.: |
12/342,182 |
Filed: |
December 23, 2008 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20100161835 A1 |
Jun 24, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
710/9;
710/15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01D
4/004 (20130101); Y04S 20/30 (20130101); Y02B
90/20 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
13/10 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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WO 2007/032944 |
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Mar 2007 |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Tseng; Cheng-Yuan
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A method of managing a power monitoring and control
informational system, said method comprising creating different
device types, including tags associated with each of said device
types, each of the device types including a name of a device type
and a driver for the device type; creating at least one device
profile for each of said device types, the device profile including
at least one tag; automatically detecting, by a detection system in
the power monitoring and control informational system, a plurality
of intelligent electronic devices in the power monitoring and
control informational system, each of the intelligent electronic
devices being configured to measure characteristics of electricity
and to quantify the measured characteristics as corresponding
characteristic data, the intelligent electronic devices being of
varying types, the at least one tag including a name of a first of
the measured characteristics, a unique identifier distinct from all
other tags, and metadata having attributes used to categorize data
corresponding to the first measured characteristic; providing an
option to a user to create a user-defined device profile for a
first of the detected intelligent electronic devices, the option
including options to create a new device profile or to create a
modified device profile by modifying a copy of data representing an
existing device profile; and automatically selecting one of the
device types based on the user-defined device profile.
2. The method of claim 1 in which said device profile includes at
least one real time tag and at least one tag selected from the
group consisting of onboard, control and reset tags.
3. The method of claim 2 in which at least one of said tags is an
alarm tag that includes a threshold value at which an alarm is to
be triggered by the first intelligent electronic device.
4. The method of claim 2 in which said device profile includes at
least one real time tag used as a trend tag, the real time tag
including a variable tag having a real time measurement of the
first measured characteristic measured by the first intelligent
electronic device.
5. The method of claim 1 which includes storing data representing
multiple tags for use in creating new device profiles, and wherein
the option to create the new device profile is carried out by
selecting tags from said stored data representing multiple
tags.
6. The method of claim 5 in which said stored data representing
multiple tags is grouped by device type.
7. The method of claim 6 in which said stored data representing
multiple tags is grouped by real time parameters for each of said
device types.
8. The method of claim 1 which includes providing a second option
that enables a user to create a new device type, by modifying a
copy of data representing an existing device type.
9. A management system for managing a power monitoring system,
comprising: a user interface that presents one or more pages for
creating different device types, including tags associated with
each of the device types, each of the device types including a name
of a device type and a driver for the device type, and for creating
at least one device profile for each of the device types, the
device profile including at least one tag; a hierarchy
classification system including a controller and a memory, wherein
the hierarchy classification system automatically learns a
hierarchy of a plurality of intelligent electronic devices arranged
in the power monitoring system, each of the intelligent electronic
devices being configured to measure characteristics of electricity
and to quantify the measured characteristics as corresponding
characteristic data; and a detection system that automatically
detects the plurality of intelligent electronic devices; wherein
the at least one tag including a name of a first of the measured
characteristics, a unique identifier distinct from all other tags,
and metadata having attributes used to categorize data
corresponding to the first measured characteristic, wherein the one
or more pages further include a second option to a user to create a
user-defined device profile for a first of the intelligent
electronic devices, the second option including options to create a
new device profile or to create a modified device profile by
modifying a copy of data representing an existing device profile,
and wherein the management system automatically selects one of the
device types based on the user-defined device profile.
10. The management system of claim 9, wherein the device profile
includes at least one real time tag and at least one other tag, the
one other tag being an onboard tag, a control tag, or a reset
tag.
11. The management system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the
tags is an alarm tag that includes a threshold value at which an
alarm is to be triggered by the first intelligent electronic
device.
12. The management system of claim 10, wherein the device profile
includes at least one real time tag used as a trend tag, the real
time tag including a variable tag having a real time measurement of
the first measured characteristic measured by the first intelligent
electronic device.
13. The management system of claim 9, wherein the management system
stores data representing multiple tags for use in creating new
device profiles, the second option including an option to create a
new device profile by selecting tags from the stored data
representing multiple tags, the stored data being grouped by device
type or by real time parameters for each of the device types.
14. The management system of claim 9, wherein the one or more pages
further include a third option that enables the user to create a
new device type, including by modifying a copy of data representing
an existing device type that has already been created.
15. One or more non-transitory tangible media having software
configured to be executed to implement a method of managing a power
monitoring and control informational system, the method comprising:
providing an option to create different device types, including
tags associated with each of said device types, each of the device
types including a name of a device type and a driver for the device
type; providing an option to create at least one device profile for
each of said device types, the device profile including at least
one tag; detecting a plurality of intelligent electronic devices in
the power monitoring and control informational system, each of the
intelligent electronic devices being configured to measure
characteristics of electricity and to quantify the measured
characteristics as corresponding characteristic data, the
intelligent electronic devices being of varying types, the at least
one tag including a name of a first of the measured
characteristics, a unique identifier distinct from all other tags,
and metadata having attributes used to categorize data
corresponding to the first measured characteristic; providing an
option to a user to create a user-defined device profile for a
first of the detected intelligent electronic devices, the option
including options to create a new device profile or to create a
modified device profile by modifying a copy of data representing an
existing device profile; and selecting one of the device types
based on the user-defined device profile.
16. The one or more non-transitory media of claim 15, wherein the
device profile includes at least one real time tag and at least one
other tag, the at least one other tag being an onboard tag, a
control tag, or a reset tag.
17. The one or more non-transitory media of claim 15, wherein the
real time tag includes a variable tag having a real time
measurement of the first measured characteristic measured by the
first intelligent electronic device.
18. The one or more non-transitory media of claim 15, wherein the
at least one tag is an alarm tag that includes a threshold value at
which an alarm is to be triggered by the first intelligent
electronic device.
19. The one or more non-transitory media of claim 15, wherein the
method further includes: storing data representing multiple tags
for use in creating new device profiles, and wherein the option to
create the new device profile is carried out by selecting tags from
said stored data representing multiple tags.
20. The computer product one or more non-transitory media of claim
15, the method further including providing a second option that
enables a user to create a new device type, including by modifying
a copy of data representing an existing device type.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to electrical power
monitoring systems and, more particularly, to management systems
for power monitoring systems containing a multiplicity of
intelligent electronic devices (IEDs).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a any software system (such as SCADA, HMI or DCS) that has to
communicate with IEDs (devices), a tag (a description of how to
read/write and format the data from a device) must be defined for
every measurement that the software expects to read and write to an
IED. This process is time-consuming and increases the time a
systems integrator takes to install and commission a large software
system. The more powerful a device's features/capabilities, the
more tags/measurements that need to be defined and entered for use
by the software.
The more sophisticated the capabilities of an IED (device), the
more difficult it is to properly utilize the IED within a
particular customer's system. Often how a device is used is very
specific to the problems or issues that a customer is trying to
solve, or around the market segment in which they are deployed. It
is becoming increasingly difficult to find personnel that are
experienced in a device's capabilities, and in the various market
segments in which a particular device might be deployed. This lack
of experienced personnel can result in poorly designed and
implemented software solutions that do not truly meet the needs of
the customer.
It is often difficult to do analysis on alarms and measurement data
because the available information is insufficient. Often the
creators of reports and/or analytical tools need to collect the
required information after the fact, which requires extensive
labor-intensive work.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one embodiment, a method of managing a power
monitoring and control informational system that encompasses
multiple intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) of varying types
comprises creating different device types, including tags
associated with each of the device types, creating at least one
profile for each of the device types, and generating a user
interface display that enables a user to create a new profile, the
display including options to create a new profile or to create a
profile by modifying a copy of data representing an existing
profile.
This invention is capable of significantly reducing the setup time
for a SCADA project, especially when the project includes a variety
of different devices. Specifically, setup time is reduced by
creating a library of profiles and then, after automatically
detecting all the IEDs in a system and creating a communication
hierarchy, automatically applying the appropriate profile based on
the type of device found and/or the market segment encountered.
Using spatial alignment algorithms, a power distribution hierarchy
can be created without the user having to enter all the devices'
communication information.
Thus, the system capitalizes on the existing knowledge of an
experienced engineer or market expert. These experts can create
profiles based on their knowledge of devices and/or market
segments, and these profiles can then be reused by less experienced
personnel. Once created, the profiles can be used to both
communicate with devices and enhance the user's ability to do
analysis and reporting without any additional expert knowledge.
The system also reduces user errors. The profiles can be tested
before they are stored in the library, and then they can be reused
without repeating the testing. Automatic detection of the correct
communication routing eliminates user errors that can occur during
manual entry of such data. Automatic application of profiles also
eliminates such user errors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may best be understood by reference to the following
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in
which:
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary power
monitoring and control information system that includes an IED
management system.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the IED management system
in the power monitoring and control information system of FIG.
1.
FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram of an intelligent electronic
device coupled to the power factor evaluation system shown in FIG.
1.
FIG. 3 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the "Define Device Type Tags" tab is clicked to begin the
creation of a new device type, in the IED management system of FIG.
2.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a routine used in the IED management
system of FIG. 2 for creating or editing different types of IEDs
used in the power monitoring system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram of an intelligent electronic
device coupled to the power monitoring and control information
system shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the "Add/Edit" button in FIG. 3 is clicked, the "Create From"
option for creating a new device type is selected and the pull-down
menu for "Device Type to Create From" is displayed, in the IED
management system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 7 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the "Add/Edit" button in FIG. 3 is clicked and the "Create
New" option for creating a new device type is selected, in the IED
management system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 8 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the "Add/Edit Custom Tags" button in FIG. 6 is clicked and the
"Create New" option for creating a new custom tag is selected, in
the IED management system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a routine used in the IED management
system of FIG. 2 for creating or editing different device profiles
of IEDs used in the power monitoring system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 10 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the second tab from FIG. 3, "Create Device Profiles," is
clicked to begin the creation of a new device profile and a
"Locked" Device Profile is selected, in the IED management system
of FIG. 2.
FIG. 11 is the same screen shot shown in FIG. 10 with the "Device
Profile" pull down menu displayed, in the IED management system of
FIG. 2.
FIG. 12 is a screenshot of the user interface display generated
when a "Custom" device profile from the pull down menu displayed in
FIG. 11 is selected, in the IED management system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 13 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the "Add/Edit" button from FIG. 12 is clicked, the "Create
From" option to begin the creation of a new device profile is
selected and the "Device Profile to Create From" pull down menu is
displayed, in the IED management system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 14 is the same screen shot shown in FIG. 13, with the "Device
Type" pull-down menu and the "Lock this Device Profile" checkbox
displayed, in the IED management system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 15 is a screen shot of the user interface display generated
when the "Edit Existing" option to edit a device profile is
selected and an existing device profile from the "Device Profile to
Edit" pull down menu is selected, in the IED management system of
FIG. 2.
FIG. 16 is a screen shot of the user interface generated when the
"Create New" option to create a new device profile is selected, the
"Energies" category in the "Real Time Tags" list is opened and the
"Selected Real Time Tags" for the "Energies" category are shown, in
the IED management system of FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
Although the invention will be described in connection with certain
preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is
not limited to those particular embodiments. On the contrary, the
invention is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and
equivalent arrangements as may be included within the spirit and
scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Turning now to FIG. 1, a power monitoring system 100 includes a
management system 101 coupled to multiple intelligent electronic
devices (hereafter "IEDs") 102a-102r through various wired and
wireless networks 103a-103f. As used herein, an IED refers to any
system element or apparatus with the ability to sample, collect or
measure one or more operational characteristics or parameters of a
power monitoring system 100.
As depicted in FIG. 2, the management system 101 includes software
applications 110 that process data received from an IED detection
system 111, a data alignment system 112, a hierarchy classification
system 113 and an IED configuration system 114. The four systems
111-114 all receive data from the multiple IEDs 102
The data from all the IEDs 102 is aligned automatically in temporal
or pseudo-temporal context in the automated data alignment system
112, which produces data that is temporally or synchronously
aligned such that it represents the data when it was actually seen
simultaneously by the IEDs in the power monitoring system 100. The
hierarchy classification system 113 automatically learns the
hierarchy of monitoring devices present in the power monitoring
system 100 and their positional relationships relative to one
another. Examples of the hierarchy classification system 113 and
the auto-learned hierarchy algorithms associated therewith are
described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,518, titled
"Automated Hierarchy Classification in Utility Monitoring Systems,"
issued Sep. 18, 2007, and in commonly assigned PCT Patent
Application No. PCT/US2006/034394, titled "Improvements in
Hierarchy Determination for Power Monitoring Systems," filed Nov.
5, 2007. A hierarchy as used herein includes a series of ordered
groupings of things within a system. These relationships may be
physical (based on a power system one-line diagram for example) or
functional (based on cost centers or other organizational
divisions). In an electrical power system context, a hierarchy
describes the organization of the electrical power system (whether
utility-side or demand-side of the point-of-common coupling (PCC)).
As used herein, an "auto-learned hierarchy algorithm" refers to any
of the auto-learned hierarchy algorithms disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
7,272,518.
Each IED 102 measures characteristics of the power monitoring
system 100, and quantifies these characteristics into data that can
be analyzed by a computer. For example, the monitoring device may
measure power, energy, voltage, current, or other characteristics
of electricity. In the electrical context, the IED may be based on
a PowerLogic.RTM. Series 3000/4000 Circuit Monitor or a
PowerLogic.RTM. ION7550/7650 Power and Energy Meter available from
Schneider Electric or any other suitable IED device such as a
microprocessor-based circuit breaker, relay, metering device, or
power meter.
Generally, the hierarchy classification system 113 utilizes an
auto-learned hierarchy algorithm in the monitoring system software
that is based on rules and statistical methods. Periodically, the
monitoring system software polls each monitoring device in the
power monitoring system 100 to determine certain characteristics or
parameters of the power monitoring system 100 at that node
(represented by an IED). Multiple samples of specified parameters
are taken from each IED in the system at the same given point in
time (synchronous) or at substantially the same point in time
(pseudo-synchronous). Once the parameter data is collected from
each IED in the power monitoring system 100, the auto-learned
hierarchy algorithm analyzes the data and traces the relationships
or links among the monitoring devices with respect to the time the
data sample was taken and the associated value of the data sample.
This analysis may be performed periodically to increase the
probability that the hierarchy is accurate, or to ascertain any
changes in the hierarchy. Once this iterative process reaches some
predetermined level of statistical confidence that the determined
layout of the power monitoring system 100 is correct, the
auto-learned hierarchy algorithm ends. The final layout of the
power monitoring system 100 is presented to the user for
concurrence. As each IED's data is evaluated over time (the
learning period) with respect to all other IEDs using the
auto-learned hierarchy algorithm, a basic layout of the
hierarchical structure of the power monitoring system 100 is
determined based on the monitoring points available. In this
respect, the auto-learned hierarchy algorithm uses historical
trends of the data from each IED, and those trends are compared to
determine whether any interrelationship (link) exists between the
IEDs. A more detailed hierarchical structure can be determined with
more monitoring points available for analysis.
Samples of specific electrical characteristics (such as power,
voltage, current, or the like) are simultaneously taken from each
IED 102 in the power monitoring system 100. This data is stored and
analyzed with respect to the time the sample is taken, the
associated value of the data point, and the IED 102 providing the
data. Data taken from each IED 102 is compared with each other to
determine whether any correlation exists between the IEDs. The data
is analyzed for statistical trends and correlations as well as
similarities and differences over a predetermined period of
time.
The data alignment system 112 aligns data, such as power, voltage,
current, time, events, and the like, from the multiple IEDs 102 in
the power monitoring system 100. When data from all the IEDs 102 is
aligned to the same point (or approximately the same point based on
pseudo-temporal alignment) in time that the data occurred, the data
can be put into a temporal (synchronous) or pseudo-temporal
(pseudo-synchronous) context from which additional decisions
regarding hardware and software configuration can be automatically
made or recommended. The measured data from various IEDs may be
synchronized or pseudo-synchronized with each other within a
temporal or pseudo-temporal context. Temporal alignment is more
precise than pseudo-temporal alignment. As used herein, temporal is
synonymous with synchronous. Pseudo-temporal alignment takes data
within an acceptable range based on load changes in the system.
Pseudo-temporal alignment systems typically utilize a global
positioning system (GPS) or network time protocol (NTP) for clock
synchronization. Automatic temporal alignment implementations are
described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/174,099, filed Jul. 1, 2005, titled "Automated Precision
Alignment of Data in a Utility Monitoring System." In an automatic
temporal alignment implementation, the data alignment system 112
synchronously aligns all IEDs 102 in an electrical system hierarchy
to the zero-crossing of all three phase voltages without the use of
additional hardware, notwithstanding potential phase shifts between
various IEDs, such as for example, those caused by certain
transformer configurations. When the data of the monitoring devices
is aligned synchronously with each other, the system data is
essentially aligned with respect to the time it occurred, making
more complex data analyses feasible.
An exemplary IED 102 is shown as a functional block diagram in FIG.
2A. The IED 102 includes a controller 120, firmware 121, memory
122, a communications interface 123, and three phase voltage
conductor connectors 124a-124c, which connect to the V.sub.A,
V.sub.B, and V.sub.C phase voltage conductors, respectively, and
are coupled to the controller 120. Three phase current conductor
connectors 125a-125c, which connect to the I.sub.A, I.sub.B, and
I.sub.C phase current conductors, respectively, are optionally
coupled to the controller 120. The firmware 121 includes machine
instructions for directing the controller to carry out operations
required for the IED 102. Memory 122 is used by the controller 120
to store electrical parameter data (power, energy, current,
voltage, etc.) measured by the IED 102.
Instructions from a computer are received by the IED 102 via the
communications interface 123. Those instructions may include
instructions that direct the controller 120 to mark the cycle
count, to begin storing electrical parameter data, or to transmit
to the computer 127 electrical parameter data stored in the memory
122. The electrical parameter data can include any data acquired by
IEDs, including any combination of power, energy, current, voltage,
frequency variations, amplitude variations, and phase
variations.
The IED detection system 111 automatically detects the IEDs 102 in
the power monitoring system 100. For example, the IED detection
system 111 automatically discovers configuration or identification
information published by a local computer (publisher) connected to
the IEDs 102 in the power monitoring system 100 and to a server
that determines whether to approve data packets sent by the
publisher. The publisher attempts to send a data packet including
identification information to the server, which throws an exception
with error code(s) indicating which information is missing in order
for the server to approve the pending data transfer. The publisher
interprets the error code(s) and sends back to the server the
missing information, which may be identification information,
configuration information, or both. This process of the server
throwing an exception and the publisher attempting to send data
packets or configuration information again may iterate more than
once until the server approves the publisher, the device, and all
topic information associated with the device and accepts the data
for storage in the server database. Systems and methods that
automatically detects IEDs are described in commonly assigned U.S.
Published Application No. 2007-0263643 A1, titled "TRANSFER OF
ELECTRICAL DATA WITH AUTO-DISCOVERY OF SYSTEM CONFIGURATION," dated
Nov. 15, 2007.
Another example of how the IED detection system 111 automatically
detects the IEDs 102 in the power monitoring system 100 is
described in commonly assigned U.S. Published Application No.
2009-0287803 A1, titled "AUTOMATED DISCOVERY OF DEVICES IN LARGE
UTILITY MONITORING SYSTEMS," filed May 13, 2008. The IED detection
system 111 includes an auto-discovery algorithm that attempts a
scattered-read of register addresses of an IED 102 in the power
monitoring system 100 whose identity is unknown. If the
scattered-read is successful, data from the IED 102 includes a
device ID code that is matched against a lookup table of devices.
If unsuccessful, the algorithm attempts a block-read, and if
unsuccessful, iteratively checks each register against the lookup
table to determine whether a match exists until either one is found
or the IED 102 reports an illegal data address exception, whereupon
the algorithm stops attempting to read from subsequent addresses.
The algorithm analyzes the response from the communications driver
of the computer system to determine whether the response is valid,
and if not, what type of exception is reported. If a timeout
occurs, the algorithm flags the IED 102 for a later retry scan, and
moves on to attempt to discover the next IED 102.
The data integrated monitoring system 100 also includes an IED
configuration system 114 that automatically configures the power
monitoring system 100 based upon the locations of the IEDs 102 in a
hierarchy representing the spatial interrelationships of the IEDs.
The software applications 110 on a host computer may execute any or
all of an alarm aggregation algorithm for aggregating multiple
alarms based on device location; a feature distribution algorithm
for enabling/disabling selected device features; an evaluation
algorithm for evaluating device applications; a device check
algorithm for detecting flawed data; a custom configuration
algorithm for customized configuration of thresholds on
device-by-device basis; a host computer configuration algorithm for
configuring the host computer; a redundancy algorithm for verifying
an electrical event; an alarm configuration algorithm for
configuring device thresholds; and a configuration error checking
algorithm for detecting nomenclature issues. These algorithms are
described in more detail in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser.
No. 11/900,262, titled "AUTOMATED CONFIGURATION OF A POWER
MONITORING SYSTEM USING HIERARCHICAL CONTEXT," filed Sep. 11,
2007.
Creating or Editing Device Types
When a new IED is to be commissioned, the user accesses the main
page of the user interface 116, as shown in FIG. 3. There are three
tab options the user can select: "Define Device Type Tags," "Create
Device Profiles" and "Set Up Projects." A "tag" for an IED includes
a name (such as "Current Phase A"), a unique identifier (such as
MMXU1\A\phsA), and meta data (attributes used to categorize the
data for intelligent display and/or analysis, such as
Utility=Electrical, Statistical Type=RMS, Quantity=Current). A
"SCADA tag" additionally includes an address (where to read raw
data from a device) and a formatting scheme (what to do with the
data after it is read to scale the data).
The default tab selected and displayed in FIG. 3 is "Define Device
Type Tags," and the user has selected "Branch Circuit Monitor" from
a pull-down menu in the box labeled "Device Type Name." If the
system is currently unpopulated with any IEDs, the user has two
options within this tab: (1) select a Device Type from the "Device
Type Name" pull-down menu and then click on the "Add/Edit" button,
or (2) click on the "Add/Edit" button without choosing a specific
Device Type.
If the system has already been populated with IEDs and the user
selects a Device Type Name that already exists in the system, the
tags associated with the selected Device Type Name are listed under
the tabs "Real Time Tags," "Onboard Alarm Tags," "Control Tags,"
and "Reset Tags." If the selected device type has been "Locked," as
indicated by the "Locked" icon in FIG. 3, the list of tags is
grayed out and cannot be edited. Thus, clicking on the "Add/Edit"
button only allows a new device type based on an existing device
type to be added to the system, without any editing done to the
original device type. If the selected device type is not "Locked,"
the "Locked" icon in FIG. 3 is replaced with a "Custom" icon, which
indicates that the user has the option of editing the Address of
any existing tag associated with the selected Device Type. When a
"Custom" device type has been selected, any associated tags will be
automatically displayed under the "Real Time Tags" tab.
Both options (1) and (2) from the main screen ultimately result in
the user clicking on the "Add/Edit" button, which begins the
execution of step 400 in a routine illustrated by the flow chart in
FIG. 4, generating the display show in FIG. 6. This display
includes a group of options that permit the user to advance to step
401 and choose whether the new device type is to be (1) a newly
created device type (the "Create New" button in FIG. 6) or (2)
created from an existing device type (the "Create From" button in
FIG. 6). Additional options are to edit or delete an existing
device type.
If the user chooses the "Create From" option, the routine proceeds
to step 402 which generates a display containing a pull-down menu
labeled "Device Type to Create From" that allows the user to select
an existing device type from which to create the new device type,
as seen in FIG. 6. When the user selects one of the listed device
types, such as the "Branch Circuit Monitor" (selected in FIG. 6),
the routine advances to step 403 and displays all the available IEC
tags and any selected tags for the selected device type, as seen in
FIG. 6. Step 406 allows the user to select all the appropriate tags
for the selected device type from the two lists labeled "IEC Tags"
and "Selected Tags." Tags can be added to or removed from the
"Selected Tags" list by using the two green arrows between the two
lists. After a tag is selected, the right arrow adds that tag to
the "Selected Tags" list, and the left arrow removes it from the
"Selected Tags" list back to the "IEC Tags" list.
Returning to step 401 and FIG. 6, if the user selects the "Create
New" device type option, the routine of FIG. 4 proceeds from step
401 to 404, generating the display shown in FIG. 7 that requires
the user to input a "Device Type Name" and select a "Subcategory"
and "Driver" for the new device type, completing step 405 of the
routine. The device category is automatically identified by the
system as "Schneider Electric". A check box next to the "Device
Type Name" field labeled "Lock this Device Type" (see FIG. 7)
allows the user to lock the device type so no other users can edit
the device type after it has been saved. If this box is checked,
the device type shows up as "Locked" from the main "Create Device
Types" screen and all its tags are grayed out. The user must then
follow the same steps as described for the "Create From" option,
advancing to step 406 and adding tags for the device type.
Step 407 requires the user to check if any tags necessary for the
current device type are missing from the "IEC Tags" list. If any
necessary tags are not already available in the "IEC Tags" list,
the user clicks on the "Add/Edit Custom Tags" button at the bottom
of the "Add/Edit Device Type" screen (FIG. 8), which advances the
routine to step 408 to allow the creation of a new tag, e.g., by
using the screen shown in FIG. 8. To add a new tag, the user can
choose whether the new tag is to be (1) a newly created custom tag
(the "Create New" button in FIG. 8) or (2) created from an existing
custom tag (the "Create From" button in FIG. 8). Selecting the
"Create New" option brings up the screen of FIG. 8, and the user
must enter the required information to create a new tag, such as
"Tag Name," "Description," "Group," "Data Type" and "Eng. Unit,"
which is the unit of engineering that will be used for the current
tag. The user can also select "Real Time Filters" or "Alarm
Filters" while adding or editing a custom tag, as shown in FIG. 8.
Tags with Real Time Filters will be displayed on the main screen
(FIG. 3) under the "Real Time Tags" tab, and tags with Alarm
Filters will be displayed under the "Onboard Alarm Tags" tab. Real
Time Tags are also known as variable tags and contain a real time
measurement. Alarm tags contain a threshold value at which an alarm
is to be triggered. Returning to FIG. 8 and step 408 of FIG. 4, if
the user selects the "Create From" Custom Tag option, a screen
similar to the screen of FIG. 8 is displayed. This screen includes
a "Tag To Create From" pull down menu from which the user selects
an existing tag as the base for creating the new tag.
Step 409 in the routine of FIG. 4 requires the user to confirm that
the required Engineering Unit for the new tag is available. If the
necessary Engineering Unit is unavailable, step 410 requires the
user to add the necessary Engineering Unit appropriate for the tag
by clicking on the "Add Eng. Unit" button beneath the "Eng. Units"
pull-down menu. Clicking on this button takes the user to a screen
where the necessary unit can be added. After adding a new Unit, the
user clicks on "Save & Exit" to save the unit and return to the
screen shown in FIG. 8. The newly added Unit is then displayed in
the "Eng. Units" field. Upon completing all other tag information,
selecting "Save & Exit" saves the tag and exits the screen. The
user then sees a prompt asking "Would you like to select these
tags?" and displaying the name of the newly created tag. Clicking
"Yes" adds the new tag to both the "IEC Tags" list and the
"Selected Tags" list, where the tag will immediately be displayed.
Clicking "No" adds the tag only to the "IEC Tags" list, where the
user can select the tag and add it to the "Selected Tags" list at a
later time. Step 411 requires the user to save the newly created
device type. To save, the user can click on either the "Save" or
the "Save & Exit" button at the bottom of the "Add/Edit Device
Type" screen (FIG. 7). "Save" allows users to save the device type
and continue editing. The screen will remain the same, but the
"Edit Existing" device type option will now be selected--a saved
device type becomes an existing device type. "Save & Exit"
saves the device type and exits the screen, returning the user to
the screen in FIG. 3.
Step 412 of the routine in FIG. 4 allows users to edit the address
of newly created tags from the main screen shown in FIG. 3. If a
newly created device type has not been locked and is a "Custom"
device type, any tags associated with it are displayed on the main
screen shown in FIG. 3. However, instead of being grayed out as in
FIG. 3, the tags for a "Custom" device type are available for
selection. The grayed out "Edit" button under the heading "Edit
Address" in FIG. 3 is available for the user to click on. Clicking
on the "Edit" button directs the user to the "Edit Address" screen
shown in FIG. 5, where the user can edit the address of that
particular tag. Step 413 of the routine requires users to check if
any more tags need to be edited. If the address of a tag is
incomplete, the "Edit" button of that tag is red, notifying the
user that information for that tag has yet to be completed. If the
"Edit" buttons for all tags are black, there are no more tags left
to edit and the user proceeds to step 414 to save the device
type.
Returning to the beginning of the routine shown in FIG. 4, if the
user chooses initially to edit an existing device type, rather than
create a new device type, the routine begins with step 415, and
then proceeds directly to step 402 et seq., as described above for
creating a new device type from an existing device type.
Creating Device Profiles
When a new device profile is to be created, the user clicks on the
"Create Device Profiles" tab on the main page of the user
interface, as shown in FIG. 10. Within this tab, the user has two
options: (1) select a Device Profile from the "Device Profile"
pull-down menu and then click on the "Add/Edit" button, or (2)
click on the "Add/Edit" button without choosing a specific Device
Profile. Selecting a device profile from the pull-down menu,
displayed in FIG. 1, reveals whether that particular device profile
is "Locked" or "Custom," indicated by an icon immediately to the
right of the "Add/Edit" button. If a device profile is "Locked,"
any tags associated with that device profile, which are displayed
in the window below the pull-down menu, are grayed out, as seen in
FIG. 10, and cannot be edited. If a device profile is "Custom," any
tags associated with that device profile are not grayed out and are
available to edit, as seen in FIG. 12.
Both options (1) and (2) ultimately result in the user clicking on
the "Add/Edit" button, which begins the execution of step 800 in a
routine illustrated by the flow chart in FIG. 9, which generates
the "Add/Edit Device Profile" screen shown in FIG. 13. This screen
includes a group of options that permit the user to advance to step
801 and choose whether the new device type is to be (1) a newly
created device type or (2) created from an existing device profile
Additional options are to edit or delete an existing device
profile.
If the user chooses option (2) by selecting the "Create From"
option, the routine of FIG. 9 advances to step 802, which requires
the user to select an existing profile from the "Device Profile to
Create From" pull-down menu, as seen in FIG. 13. Once an existing
profile has been selected by the user, all "Real Time" tags and all
"Onboard, Contol and Reset" tags associated with the selected
device profile are displayed, as seen in FIG. 13. To create the new
device, the user must enter a new name for the device profile in
the "Device Profile Name" field and a new description in the
"Description" field. A device type from the "Device Type" pull-down
menu (FIG. 14) will automatically be selected depending on the
device profile the user has selected. The user can choose to select
the box to the right of the "Device Profile Name" field labeled
"Lock this Device Profile" so other users cannot edit the profile
once it has been saved If this box is checked, the device profile
shows up as "Locked" from the main "Create Device Profiles" screen
and all its tags are grayed out.
The user then proceeds to step 803 of the routine of FIG. 9,
selecting the tags that need to be associated with the current
profile. As can be seen in FIG. 15, there are two sections of tags.
The first is for Real Time Tags, which contains two lists: "Real
Time Tags" on the left side, and "Selected Real Time Tags" on the
right side. The "Real Time Tags" list contains categories of Real
Time tags, which can be further opened to reveal all the tags
within that category. The "Selected Real Time Tags" list contains
all tags that have been selected and moved over from the "Real Time
Tags" list. The three green arrows are used to move tags between
the two lists. The first arrow moves an entire category of tags
from the "Selected Real Time Tags" list back to the "Real Time
Tags" list, using the pull-down menu directly beneath the heading
"Selected Real Time Tags." For example, in FIG. 15, the category of
tags selected is "Currents." If the user clicks the first green
arrow, all tags under the "Currents" category are moved from the
"Selected Real Time Tags" list back to the "Real Time Tags" list.
The other two green arrows transfer individual tags between the two
lists. The tags in the "Selected Real Time Tags" list can be
alphabetically sorted by clicking the small arrowhead on the right
side of the "Tag Name" heading. The second section of tags is for
Onboard, Control and Reset tags, which also contains two lists
labeled "Onboard, Control and Reset Tags" on the left side and
"Selected Onboard, Control and Reset Tags" on the right side. The
user can transfer tags between these lists using the green arrows
as described above.
Once the user has completed step 803 of the routine in FIG. 9 and
selected all the appropriate tags for the current device profile,
the user advances to step 805 of the routine and identify any tags
that need to be marked as Alarm or Trend tags. The "Selected Real
Time Tags" list contains two columns with checkboxes labeled "PC
Based Alarm" and "Trend Tag." The user must check the appropriate
box next to any tag he wishes to mark as an Alarm or Trend tag. The
user can also use the "Select All" and "Unselect" options above the
tag labels to simultaneously select or unselect all the tags in a
column. Once a tag is checked, the corresponding information is
created when the device is added to the database.
After checking all necessary tags, the user completes the routine
of FIG. 9 by saving the device profile. The user has two options to
save: (1) "Save" or (2) "Save & Exit." The user clicks on
"Save" to save the profile while continuing to edit it. If the
"Save" button is clicked, the profile is saved, but the user is not
exited from the screen. However, the "Create From" option is no
longer selected. Once a profile is saved, it becomes an existing
profile; the screen remains the same, but the "Edit Existing"
profile option is selected, as seen in FIG. 15. The "Save &
Exit" button saves the profile and directs the user back to the
main screen shown in FIG. 10.
Returning to FIG. 13 and step 800 of the routine in FIG. 4, if the
user initially selects the "Create New" device profile option, the
routine advances to step 804. The user is directed to the screen
displayed in FIG. 16. The user is now required to enter a "Device
Profile Name" and "Description" for the new profile and select a
Device Type on which the new profile is to be based. The user then
advances to step 803 of the routine and must select any tags
necessary for the current profile. Tag categories associated with
the selected Device Type will automatically be displayed in the
"Real Time Tags" list. The user adds tags from this list to the
"Selected Real Time Tags" list. Once the necessary tags are added,
the "PC Based Alarm" and "Trend Tag" checkboxes appear, as seen in
FIG. 16. The user then proceeds to step 805 et seq., as described
above for creating a new device profile from an existing device
profile. From step 805, the routine advances to step 806 to save
the new device profile.
Returning to the beginning of the routine shown in FIG. 9, if the
user chooses initially to edit an existing device profile, rather
than creating a new device profile, the routine begins with step
807, and then proceeds directly to step 802 et seq., as described
above for creating a new device profile from an existing device
profile.
While particular embodiments and applications of the present
invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be
understood that the invention is not limited to the precise
construction and compositions disclosed herein and that various
modifications, changes, and variations may be apparent from the
foregoing descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope
of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
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